police force from 11,000 to 73,000 members further exacerbated local clashes as new recruits were often young or subpar or both. Included in the expanding police rank were 41,000 men, mostly Malay, who enlisted into the special constabulary, and 1,000 planters, who were “seconded” to the force, a typical move in Britain’s empire where local Europeans were often co-opted into the colonial service to help suppress insurgencies.
